1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to sports goals, and more particularly, to portable collapsible sports goals with a carrying case in a form of a non-limiting, exemplary backpack.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional portable collapsible sports goals and their exclusively dedicated carrying cases are well known and have been in use for a number of years. Regrettably, most conventional portable collapsible sports goals and their dedicated carrying case suffer from obvious disadvantages in that the conventional sports goal carrying case is exclusively and solely made and dedicated only for the purpose of carrying a specific type of portable collapsible sports goal and generally, nothing more. Therefore, a user of such equipment is required to carry (at the very least) two carrying cases, the conventional portable collapsible sports goal carrying case (with the sports goal) and another carrying case such as a backpack to carry other items such as water, food, snacks, etc. Of course, the number of bags or carrying cases increases if the user (such as a coach) is responsible in providing water or snacks for an entire team of players, where more space is required to carry all of the extra food, water, or any other item (such as score books, laptops, and etc.) desired by the coach or other users.
A further drawback with respect to the conventional sports goal carrying cases is that their size, overall configuration (or style), and form-factor is exclusively commensurate with the shape of a corresponding portable sports goal in collapsed position. This type of configuration makes the conventional carrying case bulky and awkward shaped, making it difficult for users to carry other bags or carrying cases together with conventional the sports goal carrying case.
Most conventional portable collapsible sports goals include straps (such as VELCRO®) that are used to maintain and retain the sports goals in their collapsed position. Accordingly, one of the limitations of the conventional sports goals is that they require to be strapped to remain in collapsed position, and that their corresponding conventional sports goal carrying cases must have a sufficiently small interior volume so that the exclusively commensurate conventional sports goal itself can tightly fit within the carrying case and not expand or open. This way, if a strap were loose, the carrying case would continue to contain the sports goal in its collapsed position. However, this required small interior volume for a tight fit significantly limits and does not allow the conventional carrying case to be used for carrying other items. A further drawback with respect to the conventional sports goal carrying cases is that they fully separate and detach from the actual sports goal, which makes them vulnerable to loss.
A further drawback with the conventional portable collapsible sports goals is that they are not simple to use and in fact, require the user to follow a set of instructions or steps to properly and correctly collapse the portable sports goal from its default open position to its closed position. Additionally, after collapsing the goal to its closed position, the user must use a set of straps to secure the collapsed goal to maintain it in its closed position. Thereafter, the collapsed and strapped conventional sports goal is then placed into its exclusive bag or carrying case for storage.
When in use, the conventional portable collapsible sports goals require to be anchored. The conventional sports goals use a set of anchoring pins (prone to loss or breakage) to secure the conventional portable collapsible sports goals onto a field, which, in turn, obviously require and necessitates the use of a playing field that has a penetrable ground so that the anchor pins can penetrate to secure the sports goal onto the field. Therefore, most conventional portable collapsible sports goals cannot be used on hard surfaces where the anchoring pins cannot penetrate, such as concrete, asphalt, or artificial turf, compelling the use of sandbags or other types of anchoring weight.
Accordingly, in light of the current state of the art and the drawbacks to current portable collapsible sports goals and their respective carrying cases mentioned above, a need exists for a carrying case and portable collapsible sports goal combination that would enable a user to comfortably carry more than just the portable collapsible sports goal. In addition, a need exists for a carrying case and portable collapsible sports goal that is simple to use without requiring instructions, straps, anchoring pins, etc.